Students and staff at Brunts Academy praised by watchdog

The short inspection by Ofsted found Brunts, in The Park, had also improved in some areas since 2013.

It found maths GCSE exam results were ‘consistently good’ and students in the sixth form ‘achieve well.’

The report also found that the expected progress in English for current Year 11 students, was ‘much higher than in previous years’ and attendance is now higher than the national average.

The academy was also praised in the report for improving the performance of disadvantaged students.

The report states: “The gap between the progress of disadvantaged groups and others is diminishing.”

Brunts was also praised for its partnership with the Evolve Trust, which helps support the academy and help teachers communicate through schools.

Head teacher Carl Atkin who filled the role last year, said: “We are exceptionally pleased to receive a good quality report from Ofsted.

“As part of the Evolve Trust, our vision is to open minds, creating opportunities for all to believe in themselves, achieve their potential and develop the skills needed to succeed and enjoy life.

“This vision resonates throughout this report and we are proud to announce that the Ofsted inspectors agreed with our own judgement that the academy continues to be good and that the quality of teaching is at least good.

“Students speak positively about their experience whilst at The Brunts Academy and staff are proud to be a part of our academy.

“Regardless of the huge amount of positive comments in the inspection report, we will remain relentless with focusing on the already known areas for development so that Brunts is outstanding in the next inspection.”

However Brunts has been given some points for improvement to take them to ‘outstanding’ in the report.

This includes giving pupils more challenging work, making sure leaders constantly evaluate their work and working on improving attendance in disadvantaged pupils.